David Eagleman - Sum, Forty Tales From The Afterlife

Publication Date: 24th April 2009
Published by: Canongate Books
Author: David Eagleman
What happens to us when we die? Unfortunately I canât answer that, if I could Iâd be lying in Aruba, dismissing minions and signing a million pound book deal with Random House via my blackberry. Yeah, Iâm a self-proclaimed capitalist who wonât be drinking lattes with the angels anytime soon.
So the answer remains a mystery, but thereâs a lot of fun to be had in speculating and making so...

Publication Date: 24th April 2009
Published by: Canongate Books
Author: David Eagleman
What happens to us when we die? Unfortunately I canât answer that, if I could Iâd be lying in Aruba, dismissing minions and signing a million pound book deal with Random House via my blackberry. Yeah, Iâm a self-proclaimed capitalist who wonât be drinking lattes with the angels anytime soon.
So the answer remains a mystery, but thereâs a lot of fun to be had in speculating and making some dosh along the way. Too bad I was beat to the job by David Eagleman, some Texan neuroscientist who just published Sum â Forty Sales from the Afterlife, a pocketsize book of hilarious tales of âwhat ifsâ that make you question the boundaries of your own rigid imagination.
Picture this: you die, and are recreated in Heaven based on your credit card bills, God is the size of a peanut, and your forced to live with every annoying version of yourself â a Darth Vader breathing nose-picker with a tendency for toenail-biting â perhaps thatâs just me. The dystopian tales are endlessly charming and at times a little insightful, although thereâs no moral air that whispers âappreciate your loved ones and stop smoking,â which could have easily made the book religious schlock disguised as fiction. I guess the only message is that although life sucks at times, itâs a fat lot worse afterwards and this gives it an existential twang for all the cynics out there.
Romantic and chilling, the book makes for the perfect in-between novel read. And although Iâm not a huge fan of short stories it ticked my boxes, because despite being a scientist, and this being his first foray into fiction, this Eagleman chap can write a darn good story.
Perhaps a little overpriced at Â£9.99, but overall a delightful little read thatâs gruesomely cute. The only downside is that the whole time your reading it you canât help thinking âwhy the bloody hell didnât I think of this!â Eagleman, Iâll see you in hell.